Sleep Apnea Treatment Turlock, CA

Sleep apnea is a serious sleep disorder that affects more than 18 million Americans every night. It occurs when your breathing is interrupted during sleep, causing you to stop breathing and wake up. This can occur hundreds of times during the night in severe cases.

Sleep apnea is dangerous because when you stop breathing for a few seconds multiple times throughout the night, it causes a strain on your heart and oxygen depletion for your brain and other organs.

Without your much-needed restful sleep, you may feel tired and groggy throughout the day. You may also wake up with headaches or experience them frequently. If left untreated, sleep apnea can result in or contribute to a number of serious health concerns such as:

• Depression
• Heart failure or heart attacks
• Diabetes
• Stroke
• High blood pressure

You may not even realize that you have sleep apnea. Bed partners who hear their partners snoring loudly or waking up gasping or choking are frequently the ones who first notice it.

Snoring

Snoring is definitely a sign and symptom of sleep apnea, but that’s not to say that everyone who snores has the disorder. Typically folks with sleep apnea snore loudly, enough to disturb or wake their bed partners. When your airway collapses during sleep, this causes the loud snoring and difficulty breathing.

Other signs of sleep apnea include waking up with an extremely dry mouth because people with the disorder tend to sleep with their mouths open. Although you may be waking often throughout the night due to the lack of breathing, most people don’t even realize they’re waking up.

How Is Sleep Apnea Treated?

The continuous positive airway pressure, or CPAP, device, is the standard treatment given to patients with sleep apnea. There are, however a few challenges with this machine. It requires the patient to wear a large mask on their face that covers their nose and mouth, which is hard to keep on and sleep with. The machine is also very loud when it’s running, which is disturbing to those trying to sleep in the room. Because of these drawbacks, many patients don’t want to wear the CPAP, or they wear it incorrectly and don’t derive the benefits.

If you suspect that you have sleep apnea or you’ve already been diagnosed, contact Progressive Health Dental. Dr. Ratto helps patients with chronic snoring and sleep apnea conditions by creating customized oral appliances that are removable and designed to open your airways and alleviate the dangerous breathing conditions created by sleep apnea.

Patients are unique, so each appliance must be created specifically for their individual needs, and this is where Dr. Ratto’s expertise comes into play. Working with a team of experts such as your Primary Care Physician, ENT specialist, Sleep specialists, Myofascial specialists and physical therapists allows Dr. Ratto to manage these chronic conditions by giving you the best treatment for your sleep apnea.

If you or loved one suffers from sleep apnea or chronic loud snoring, contact our office today to learn more about treating this dangerous, potentially life-threatening sleep disorder.